A new chapter in motion picture history started on June 6, 1933. The first-ever "park-in" theater opened to a packed house in Camden, New Jersey. Admission was 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person. Moviegoers were treated to the British comedy "Wives Beware."

The "drive-in" theater, a term not used until later, was the creation of Richard Hollingshead.

Inspired by Hollingshead's generously-sized mother's struggle to sit comfortably in theater seats, he came up with the idea of an open-air cinema where customers watched movies in the comfort of their own cars. He experimented in the driveway of his own house with different projection and sound equipment, mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car, pinning a screen to some trees, and placing a radio behind the screen for sound.

In 1948, there were just three outdoor theaters in Wisconsin, but by 1954, they peaked with sixty-four open-air venues. The outdoor fad soon after began a slow decline until the 1980’s when numbers dropped precipitously.

Today, there are just nine remaining in Wisconsin. Remember the Highway 57 Outdoor Theatre in Cedarburg, the Lake Park Outdoor in Fond du Lac and the Lake Vue Outdoor in Manitowoc?

View of the Star Dusk site in Sheboygan showing the concession stand and ramps for better viewing, June 1949. There was even a ramp attendant. Still under construction. Sheboygan Press photo(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

All of those outdoor theaters are gone today. Sheboygan’s very own Star Dusk Theater (not Star Dust) opened in June 1949. Located on fifteen acres on the northeast corner of South 12th Street and County EE on the city’s south side, the business was built by Sheldon Grengs and Claude Wardian for an investment of about $80,000. It could accommodate 600 cars and had eleven ramps to elevate their front ends for better viewing.

The Star Dusk Theater's ‘mammoth’ screen was about 50 x 40 feet in size and covered in reflective paint for an improved picture. The very large screen tower was bright yellow with the name of the drive-in spelled out in bold red letters. The entire venue was constructed by Quasius Construction in just more than six weeks. By 1955, the screen had been enlarged to more than eight stories, 80 x 50 feet in size.

Star Dusk's "Buck Nights” were held every Thursday and Friday where one dollar paid for a carload. Shows changed three times a week and double features were shown on Saturdays and Sundays. Cartoon features were added and everything was shown in “vivid technicolor.” Every car had an in-car speaker, which occasionally left the theater still stuck in some embarrassed driver’s window.

Ad for the Star Dusk Sheboygan Press ad(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

A full-page ad for the grand opening of Star Dusk Theatre advertised a whole range of benefits:

"You may smoke if you like."

"What a break for us old folks. Now we can go to the movies, too."

"If there’s room for Fido in your car, he’s welcome, too."

"We baby your baby, free bottle warmers at the snack bar."

Theater management was committed to the success of the grand opening of the Star Dusk.

Free admission was offered for the first day of the Star Dusk Theatre. Ads boasted two ‘swell’ features, "Just for You" with Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman; and "The Caribbean" with John Payne and Arlene Dahl. Each car attending was also given a certificate for two free gallons of gas. The drive-in theater was a family favorite because the entire family and a couple of friends could pile into the car in pajamas with popcorn and Kool-Aid and have a great time for as little as a dollar.

Interestingly, the Wesley Methodist Church of Sheboygan held drive-in church services at the Star Dusk on Sundays during the summer of 1955. The pulpit, organ and altar were stationed on the roof of the refreshment stand and coffee and doughnuts were served to parishioners to give them strength in their worship. The church hoped to reach those driving through the county on those Sunday mornings.

Early construction image at the Star Dusk Outdoor, Quasius Construction Company built the screen, etc. Sheboygan Press photo(Photo: Courtesy of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center)

The Star Dusk Drive-In closed on Sept. 3, 1984. No more steamed up car windows or sneaking in the trunk of the Buick. No more mosquito swarms coming in open windows. It was the end of an era. The screen and outbuildings were torn down a decade later. The site is now home to a mobile home park. Peaking in the late 1950’s, there were almost 5,000 drive-ins.

Today, there are only 366 operating drive-in theatres in the United States. The rise of television and VHS, and more importantly, increased land prices, led to the genre’s downfall. Today the few remaining theaters are struggling to make the change to digital format. Costs range from $70,000 to $100,000 per theater, far too much for most small businesses. Research done by the Los Angeles Times estimated that only 10 percent of the remaining drive-ins can make the switch.

But happily, some communities are stepping up and choosing to help with conversion costs just to preserve a part of their history. Here, in Sheboygan County, we may not have an outdoor theater anymore, but we have great memories.

For more information, please visit the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center’s website at schrc.org. Beth Dippel is executive director of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.